The Struggle is real

AshFace22

Anyone who is about my height (5'10'') go through trying to find your middle ground when it comes to maintaining? I do. Sometimes daily. Just when I think I got it straight, my anxiety acts up and I go through the cycle of "I'm going to gain my weight back, I don't know how to listen to my body, etc" Some days I'll read these sites and it'll say I need to maintain at a good 1800 calories a day, other websites say I need at least 2100 calories a day. I feel hungry every day because even if I make a giant plate of food, I still feel hungry a little over an hour later and I can't stop thinking about where do I stand. I workout a good 4 days a week! Nothing too intense, but nothing light either. I freak myself out and think if I get anything over 2000 calories, then I will put on weight. Some days I'm literally starving and I've already hit my calories for the day, so I'm miserable until I can eat again. I just don't know what to do. The bulks of my meals are veggies, protein (lotsa chicken breast) cottage cheese, pretty much "filler" ingredients (foods that make you feel full longer) some days I'll eat Cantina bowls from Taco bell, Halo top ice cream, sometimes even whole footlong sandwiches from subway AND a larry and Lenny's complete cookie. For some reason, I just don't feel satisfied or manage to stay full... Is it mind games or something? Cause anyone I know can hardly finish a 6 inch sandwich but me? I can finish a 24 inch sandwich if you let me lmao. Bottom line; I don't know my maintenance calories, I don't trust the websites that say I should be eating over 2000 or under 2000 but I feel sort of.. empty. I heard that you can eat back your workout calories, but I feel guilty whenever I do! It's just an endless cycle and to be honest, it's a bit ridiculous. I shouldn't have food occupy my mind 95% of the time. I should have this by now...But I don't. (I'm 5'10'', 22 years old, work out 4 days a week ((30 mins cardio, 30 mins strength training)) I'm 139 pounds, and work a sedentary job)

kommodevaran

If you've previously lost weight, and especially if you've lost weight multiple times, it can be hard, and take time, to find a middle ground and lose the fear of gaining. You have to be vigilant, but not anxious all the time - constant anxiety has the nasty effect of making you want to eat!

Exactly how much you need to eat to maintain weight, needs a bit of trial and error, and monitoring over time, to find out.

You aren't starving, unless you're losing weight too fast and/or nearing underweight. We're not supposed to feel full all the time. But if you feel hungry all the time, it may be that you're eating too little fat? Or too little variety? Or that you miss a certain food? Or just that the restricitve mindset is acting up.

Lose the food guilt. Thinking about food is in itself unproblematic. We need food every day, so we have to think about food, we love to eat, and we are able to eat a lot more than we need from day to day. What those thoughts are, is what matters. If you think about food as something that is bad, or something you want but can have, etc, and you can't free yourself from those thoughts, I suggest discussing it with a professional.